A few days after Trelawney’s departure, information arrived, that Colonel Stanhope was on his way to Zante, and that Ipsara,
threatened by the Turkish fleet, had sent despatches to government, urgently imploring the
assistance of their brother islanders. Of all Greek islanders, the Ipsariots were the most
barbarous. Ever dreaded as pirates, they arose into notice only after the revolution. Their
prosperity rose on the misfortunes of Chio and Aivali, of which they were the principal
authors. After the destruction of the greater part of the population of that island, they
refused giving up the vessels belonging to its wealthy merchants, and which they were in
the habit of navigating. Not satisfied with this, they plundered every inhabitant of the
above unfortunate places, who sought shelter on their island, or demanded exorbitant sums
to transport them to some place of safety. How many, who could not satisfy their avidity,
were left to fall preys to Turkish cruelty! Let me not be accused of exaggeration. Ask the
hundreds of females, who were sold in the bazaars of Smyrna and Constantinople. Ask the
destitute Chiots, wandering in the Morea from place to place, from island to island. Ask
the Chiot merchants, who had time to fly to
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The accusation made against Colonel
Stanhope of his being the cause of the fall of Ipsara is as absurd as it is
unprincipled. “Had he,” say the islanders, “authorised the
delivery of a portion of the Loan, our fleet would, after being paid, have put to sea,
and arrived in time to relieve that island.” Even granting that the colonel
could not entirely exculpate himself, he could only be considered as the indirect cause of
its fall; and the whole blame would justly fall on those, who, aware of the indelible
shame, brought on their character by their sordid conduct, awkwardly endeavoured to render
another responsible for their vices and crimes. Had not, in fact, the Hydriots and
Spezziots been governed by mercenary feelings as they were; had their souls been in the
smallest degree alive to the voice of patriotism, could they have lent a deaf ear to the
entreaties of so many thousands of their brethren? and could they have calculated with so
much indifference on the prospect of their ruin? If the sailors had refused to depart
without money in advance, could not Conduriotti,
Tombasi, Botasi, or any of the other wealthy primates, in a moment so urgent, draw
from their exhaustless coffers the small sum requisite? It was not a sacrifice they were
called upon to make but a loan, which they were sure of receiving back on the first payment
of the money then at Zante. Could they not imitate Lord
Byron’s conduct, who a few months before, when it was uncertain yet
whether a loan
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Mesolonghi, which at every time of the year is a very unhealthy spot, becomes remarkably so at the approach of summer. Its outskirts and even its interior, as before observed, are during the winter rains converted into one immense morass; and when the waters dry up, the effluvia arising from so extensive a marshy surface, occasion not only intermittents of the worst description, but putrid disorders. The number of my patients, affected with typhus, was extraordinary. Unhabituated to the climate, and continually exposed to the contagion, I did not fail to be attacked myself by the same disorder. Tormented by its worst symptoms, the horrors of which cannot be conveyed to the mind by any description, I lay on a feverish bed, watched negligently by a mercenary servant; who, considering me an assured prey, anxiously expected the moment I should expire, to possess himself of the few articles in my possession. A long martyrized sufferer, I earnestly implored the parting stroke.
While in that cruel intermediate state between life and death, as it were,
a stranger enters my apartment, approaches my bed, and gently pressing my hand, asks me in
English how I feel; what makes me suffer most? He answers my complaints with the
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As soon as health allowed me, I was accompanied by Lord Charles Murray to Cerasovo, a small village four
leagues distant from Mesolonghi. It is situated on an elevated position in that ridge of
mountains which separate the fertile plains of Vrachori from those of Anatolico and
Mesolonghi. It is called Zugo, and this name is given to the whole province. The balmy air
of this village; its limpid, cool springs, its delightful walks amidst its majestic woods
of chest-
| 158 | MEMOIRS ON GREECE. |
Generally speaking, the Greek peasants are intelligent, industrious, hardy, and indefatigable whenever their idol, money, is to remunerate their toils. Frugal, temperate in habits, economical, not to say parsimonious, inquisitive, suspicious, eager of knowledge, they possess all the rudiments, requisite to form excellent husbandmen. They are passionately fond too of every pursuit in the shape of trade. Clownish manners are seldom observed among them. They have grace, and something prepossessing in their mode of presenting themselves. They express themselves with fluency and harmony, very unlike any of our peasantry; and they soon become familiar with a stranger. On first meeting one they eye him attentively from head to foot, and direct their questions with great penetration and good sense.
The blindest superstition is sedulously propagated among them by the clergy; the belief in vampires, fascination, witches, &c. ,&c. is universal; and, in every sense of the word, they are buried in an idolatry as profound as that of their pagan forefathers.
The administration of this and of all villages, dispersed over the country,
had suffered no alteration with the revolution, except that the Cogiabashi (elder) dealt
now with the Greek capitano instead of the Turkish aga. The new chief, generally selected
from among the most notorious highway-
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